Kamal Haasan Opens Up About Having Suicidal Thoughts

Tamil cinema's icon and legend Kamal Haasan attended a college event in Chennai a few days ago, and shared his views and knowledge on life's challenges with the young college-going crowd.

The interaction grew intense when Kamal was asked to comment on the increasing cases of suicides among students. The question and Kamal's response was the need of the hour, particularly in the wake of the suicide of actor-composer Vijay Antony's 16-year-old daughter, Meera, who took her own life due to academic pressure.

One particular statement by Kamal Haasan shocked students. Kamal Haasan made a startling revelation about his thoughts during the early days of his career, he had also overcome suicidal thoughts. "When I was 20 or 21, I had thought about committing suicide," he said.

He revealed that he had fallen into the trap of an self-image which gave him unwanted thoughts. He said "I used to lament that neither the film industry or the art world was giving me the value that I deserved. At the time I thought, if I died the industry would repent of losing such a talented artist. I have seriously discussed it with my mentor Ananthu. He asked me, 'If you are a genius, who am I?' He advised me to continue working and patiently wait for my time," he said.

He equated suicide to murder. He said "Murder is considered the first deadly sin. And I believe suicide is equally sinful. It's a crime,".

Death will come to you says Kamal Haasan

Talking further he said "I have accepted death as part of life. I don't see death and life as two different things. An endless life has no meaning or purpose. Death will come. So you don't need to rush it," he concluded.

Kamal Haasan will soon be seen in director S. Shankar's Indian 2. The film also stars Siddharth, Kajal Aggarwal and Priya Bhavani Shankar in key roles.